Shemittah, the Jewish Sabbatical year, brings security and blessing. The Torah says keeping this Mitzvah will prevent disaster and exile. Shemittah is Shabbat LaHashem. A taste of the World to Come. Learn about one womens quest for knowledge and rediscovery of this long lost Mitzvah according to the simple Torah reading of the text found in the beginning posts of this blog.

At an elegant gala in New York City last night, the Center for Security Policy was proud to confer awards on two extraordinary men: Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, who received the 2016 Freedom Flame, and Zionist Organization of America Communities President Morton Klein who received the 2016 Keeper of the Flame award.

Both men used the occasion to make remarks that were powerful, memorable and moving. Amb. Dermer brilliantly discussed the threats posed to freedom in his country, in the United States and globally by "militant Islam." He warned in particular of the peril posed to liberty if freedom of speech is suppressed by those like the "Orwellian" Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) – a group he acknowledged once admiring for its defense of First Amendment liberties, but now condemns for its role in abridging them.

For his part, Mort Klein exhibited the formidable intellect, rhetorical skills and passion that have made him for the past twenty-three years as ZOA president, the bane of freedom's foes and a true Keeper of the Flame.

The Ambassador noted that the SPLC had demanded that he not accept the Center's award, a demand echoed by a number of Jewish, media and Islamist organizations. To his great credit, and the delight of the audience, Amb. Dermer spurned those efforts to suppress his speech. Instead, he delivered a scathing critique of those who malign fellow freedom-fighters like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Dr. Daniel Pipes and the Center for Security Policy for their informed, fact-based warnings about militant Islam.

For his part, Mort Klein exhibited the formidable intellect, rhetorical skills and passion that have made him for the past twenty-three years as ZOA president, the bane of freedom's foes and a true Keeper of the Flame. In his remarks, Mr. Klein served notice that the Obama administration must not be allowed, on its way out the door, to make one last effort at the United Nations to delegitimate America's most important ally in the Middle East and, arguably worldwide: Israel. Should that occur, he called for Congress immediately to enact legislation cutting off U.S. funding for the UN and the Palestinian Authority.

Center for Security Policy President Frank J. Gaffney, who served as Master of Ceremonies for last night's "Flames Dinner," observed:

The Center was enormously gratified by the opportunity to recognize Amb. Ron Dermer and Mort Klein. We look forward to working with both men and the new Trump administration to revitalize the U.S.-Israel strategic alliance – and to thwart the efforts of all enemies, foreign and domestic, to suppress or otherwise subvert the freedoms our two nations revere.

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is the oldest and one of the largest pro-Israel organizations in the United States. With offices around the country and in Israel, the ZOA educates the public, elected officials, the media, and college/high school students about the truth of the ongoing Arab war against Israel. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.- Israel relations through educational activities, public affairs programs and our work on Capitol Hill, and to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias in the media, in textbooks, in schools and on college campuses. Under the leadership of such presidents as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, and current President Morton A. Klein, the ZOA has been - and continues to be - on the front lines of Jewish activism. www.zoa.org. For more information contact Morton A. Klein 212-481-1500.